Being called to the principal's office first thing in the morning is likely to send shivers down the spine of the best student.

But for Morgan Smith and Casey Sims, the call was only good news.

School Principal Will Tovine was in the office with the ladies' parents to announce that Smith will be valedictorian and Sims will be salutatorian for the CHS Class of 2010. Both have 4.0 unweighted grade point averages.

Sims mother Carrie Crews and grandmother Polly Lee were waiting with hugs after Sims realized she was not in trouble for some unknown crime.

The Greater Chiefland Area Chamber of Commerce will close nominations on Friday, Jan. 29 for the 2009 Citizen of the Year. The honoree will be announced and presented with an award at the Chamber's annual banquet on Tuesday, Feb. 23.

The Central Florida Community College Levy Center will offer its first guided Ecotourism Field Trip on Saturday, Jan. 23. The trip is part of the Ecotourism Business Workshops program that begins on Jan. 11.

The trip is open to the public and includes visits to both Manatee Springs State Park and Fanning Springs State Park, with lunch in Fanning Springs. Participants will also visit Point of View Gifts & Antiques and Dakotah Winery.

The USDA has named the City of Cedar Key as Florida’s Rural Community of the Year for 2009.

Located on the Gulf Coast of Levy County, Cedar Key’s belief in partnering to protect the community’s history, environment and working people peaked the interest of UDSA Rural Development, and led to the award that will be officially presented the community next week.

The title would not have been possible without the help of the city’s partners, said Greg Lang, Director of the Cedar Key Community Redevelopment Agency.

Florida Department of Transportation geotechnical engineers Binay Prakash, left, and Chandra Samakur discuss a sinkhole — about 12 feet in diameter and 8 feet deep — that developed in the inside lane of northbound U.S. Highway 19, about 5 miles north of Otter Creek.

The sinkhole, which was discovered by crews adding paving to the shoulders along the roadway about 11 a.m. Tuesday, forced the closing of the northbound lanes of U.S. 19.